Personal apparatus for balanced support of side loads in either standing or sitting position

ABSTRACT

An apparatus which supports a pair of side loads in balanced and fully hand-accessible positions, while a person who is carrying the apparatus is walking in a substantially erect position, and also while the person is in a sitting position.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority of my U.S. provisional application No. 60/518,460 filed on Nov. 10, 2003, and entitled POSTURE BAG.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to shoulder-supported apparatus for carrying books or other personal items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is a well-known problem at the present time that school and college students are often obliged to carry heavy loads of books that are injurious to their health. These loads often cause back problems. Futhermore, besides the short term and long term health problems, the students must endure a lot of discomfort and inconvenience. Even when loads are balanced by distributing the weight between two shoulders, there is still a great deal of inconvenience associated with transporting a back pack or the like, putting it on, taking it off, and storing it when not in use.

It is usually necessary for the student to remove the back pack upon arriving at a destination, and either put it on the floor or hang it up somewhere. And when that is done the contents of the back pack are not then conveniently accessible.

PRIOR ART

One example of prior art is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,884,328 issued in 1932. A pair of shoulder straps were utilized to support a corresponding pair of side bags.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention I provide an apparatus which supports a pair of side loads in balanced and fully accessible positions, while the person carrying the apparatus is walking in a substantially erect position, and also while the person is in a sitting position.

My garment-like apparatus has a pair of shoulder straps supporting corresponding side bags from both their front and rearward ends, an upper front strap that normally holds the shoulder straps in spaced relation but may be released when the person sits down and the shoulder straps are taken off, and a lower front strap that may be kept fastened when the person sits down so as to preserve the accessibility of the contents of the side bags.

DRAWING SUMMARY

FIG. 1 is an artistic side view of a person walkling in an erect position while carrying my novel apparatus;

FIG. 2 shows the person in a sitting position with the side bags still hand-accessible;

FIG. 3 shows the hand-accessible position of the side bags after the shoulder straps are removed from the shoulders; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the presently preferred form of the apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT (FIGS. 1-4)

FIGS. 1 through 3 show use of the apparatus by a person 10 having shoulders 12, arms 14, and hands 16. FIG. 4 shows the preferred form of my novel apparatus A including some details not shown in the other figures.

The garment-like apparatus A is symmetrical on both the left and right sides. It includes an X-shaped web structure 20 adapted to fit on the person's back; shoulder straps 30; side bags 40; a horizontal upper strap 50; and a horizontal lower strap 60.

X-shaped web structure 20 has diverging upper legs 22 and diverging lower legs 24. The upper legs 22 are attached to rearward ends 32 of respective shoulder straps 30, while lower legs 24 of the web 20 are secured to the rearward ends 42 of respective side bags 40. The precise shape or configuration of web structure 20 is not critical to the successful operation and use of the present invention, as various other configurations could be used.

The pair of shoulder straps 30 are adapted to fit over and be supported from the person's shoulders 12. Each of the shoulder straps 30 has a rearward end portion 32 secured to an upper leg or corner 22 of the web structure 20, and a front end portion 34 that is adapted to face forwardly from the person's shoulders 12. An upper part of the front end portion 34 of each should strap 30 is designated as 36 while its lower end is designated 38.

Each side bag 40 has a rearward end 42 attached to a lower corner or end 24 of web structure 20, and a forward end 44 that is secured to and supported by the forward portion 34 of the associated shoulder strap 30.

The upper front strap 50 has ends 52 attached to upper parts 36 of the front end portions 34 of corresponding shoulder straps 30. Strap 50 is made with two longitudinally extending parts which are normally secured together in lengthwise relation by a quick-release type of snap fastener 54. Fastener 54 preferably has the capability to adjust the length of upper strap 50 and hence the horizontal distance between the upper parts 36 of the shoulder straps 30.

Lower front strap 60 has ends 62 that are attached to respective side bags 40 to support them at a desired horizontal distance apart. At it approximate longitudinal center the front strap 60 has an easily releasable snap fastener 64 that allows the strap to be opened when the apparatus A is to be removed from the person's body. Fastener 64 preferably also has the capability to adjust the effective length of lower strap 50 so as to adjust the horizontal distance between the side bags 40.

At its lower extremity 38 the forwardly facing portion 34 of each shoulder strap 30 is secured by means of an adjustable fastener 46 to the forward end 44 of a corresponding side bag 40. Fasteners 46 may be adjusted to adjust the effective length of the shoulder straps and hence the vertical positions of side bags 40 relative to the associated shoulder straps 30, so as to accommodate to the person's height and preserve convenient hand access to the side bags 40.

In operation, the apparatus of my invention allows the person to carry books or personal accessories while either walking or sitting in relatively correct posture and minimizing possible back injury. FIG. 1 shows the walking position. FIG. 2 shows a sitting position. FIG. 3 shows the person in a sitting position after the upper snap fastener 54 has been released so that the upper part of the garment-like apparatus can be opened. Dotted lines in FIG. 3 indicate the positions of the shoulder straps before fastener 54 is released. After the shoulder straps are released, each one can fall or be lowered to a position outside of and below the associated side bag 40, so that the user of the apparatus retains full hand access to the contents of the side bags.

When the user assumes a sitting position as shown in FIG. 3 it is not necessary to remove the apparatus and either put it on the floor or hang it up. The person can conveniently retain the apparatus in an operative position with side bags 40 fully accessible. When the person needs to get up and walk, it takes very little time to put the shoulder straps back in place and fasten the fastener 54.

Additional details shown only or more clearly in FIG. 4 are as follows. The side bags 40 are preferably provided with zipper fastenings 48 on their top sides. In addition, the adjustable fasteners 46 that attach the lower ends 38 of the shoulder straps 30 to the front ends 44 of the side bags are preferably secured to the side bags at about the middle of their vertical height. This facilitates maintaining the desired position and aspect of the side bags when the user of the apparatus is in a sitting position. Vertical slides 70 are preferably provided on the forwardly facing front end portions of the shoulder straps 30, so that the vertical location of the upper strap 50 may be adjusted to suit the convenience of the wearer.

The presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail in order to comply with requirements of the patent laws. While many mofifications and variations will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, the scope of the protection presently sought for the invention is to be judged only in accordance with the appended claim. 

1. A garment-like apparatus for a person to carry books or personal accessories while either walking or sitting, in order to maintain relatively correct posture and minimize back injury, comprising: (a) a web structure to extend across the person's back; (b) a pair of shoulder straps, each having a rearward end portion secured to the web structure, and a front end portion adapted to face forwardly; (c) a pair of side bags adapted to be positioned at the respective sides of the person, each side bag having a rearward end secured to the web structure and a forward end secured to the forwardly facing front end portion of the corresponding shoulder strap, so that the weight of the contents of the side bags will be transmitted to the person's shoulders through both the forward end portions of the shoulder straps and the web structure to allow the person to remain erect while supporting that weight; (d) the securements of the side bags to the respective shoulder straps being vertically adjustable to accommodate to the person's height for convenient hand access to the side bags; (e) an upper front strap extending horizontally and attached to the upper portions of respective ones of the forwardly facing shoulder straps for securing the upper ends of the shoulder straps a desired distance apart; (f) a horizontally extending lower front strap attached to the respective side bags for securing the side bags a desired horizontal distance apart, the lower front strap being attached to the front ends of the respective side bags at about their vertical centers; and (g) the securement of the front strap to the shoulder straps being selectively releasable so that the person, when in a sitting position, may release it so as to open the upper part of the garment while yet keeping the lower strap secured and the side bags in convenient hand-accessible locations. 